Lyman Trumbull and the Second Founding of the United States

The Civil War and Reconstruction periods in United States history are widely viewed as a “second founding” of the nation, one that sought to bring the American regime into better alignment with the aspirations articulated at the first founding. Among the figures involved in shaping this new start for the American republic, Lyman Trumbull played an instrumental role. As the chairman of the influential Senate Judiciary Committee, Trumbull advanced the most important legislation of both the Civil W